Flourish
"Samantha Star, a normal girl with paranormal powers living in an abnormal town. What did you expect?" --Flourish Personality Flourish likes to think of herself as cheerful and bubbly, with a wry sense of humor. The truth is that she's scared; frightened of both her powers and the heavy responsibility placed on her by Mayor Crowley. So she often lashes out verbally with insults when she feels she is being attacked. Her pride often will not allow her to apologize for mistakes she's made. Flourish is trying very hard to be a perfect hero, a fact that her team mates have noted and award in her favor. She listens when given advice and instruction. She gets along well with most of her team mates, the exceptions being Cantrip and Chinchilla whom are, somewhat unfairly, not really giving Flourish a chance to prove herself. She idolizes the hero Solitaire, whom she sees as a mentor and mother figure. Flourish has a strong dislike of getting dirty or sticky. Origin Story The story of Flourish begins with Samantha Star whom, with her twin sister Nicole, grew up in a sleepy and calm street in the Venus district of Raven's Grove. As Flourish remembers it there was nothing strange or unusual about her early years. She has clear recollections of riding bikes with her sister and a small cluster of friends, happy mealtimes with her parents, and complaining as all young children do that there was never anything to do in the neighborhood. But Flourish has stated that she has troubles with these memories, as if something dark and terrifying was always lurking just under the facade of her normal and mundane life. A particularly frigid winter night, when the wind outside was roaring and slamming against the Star house like a rampaging rhino, kept the twins awake and unable to sleep. Seeking an activity to whittle past the hours Sam and Nicole stole on silent bare feet up to the attack while their parents slept. In the attack they had fun looking through old pictures, trying on old clothes, and examining old books. One thick tome in particular caught their attention. It was black and bound is brass, with a stamped golden seal of some kind on the cover. The tome perplexed the girls and fascinated them at the same time because despite their best efforts the book would not open. The twins considered this puzzle, running their hands over the book and spine. Abruptly the book wrenched itself open. The twins watched in awe as strange words, phrases and diagrams wrote themselves over the crinkled pages. One phrase stood out in particular, which Flourish today can't remember. Both twins read the phrase aloud, their faces lit by the glowing words. As soon as the last syllable was spoken, something amazing occurred. Both girls were hoisted into the air, suspended and paralyzed as mystic energy flowed through them. Their skins transformed into an obsidian hue that did not reflect the light and their clothing weaved themselves into new and dramatic attire. Images flowed into their minds; incantations and rituals, a writhing Lovecraftian mass of protoplasmic horror, scenes of Medieval knights and distraught princesses, an ancient Pharaoh with steely eyes, and over and over the whispered words 13th Hour, 13th Hour. The assault seemed to go on forever until without warning Samantha found herself huddled in an alley in her pajamas, wet and cold, shivering and frightened with nothing but the large black tome in her hands and absolutely no memories of who she was, where she was, or what had happened to her. There is no telling what would have happened to her had not Mayor Crowley's sleek black limo cut through the night and pulled up beside her. As if he had been waiting for her, the Mayor brought the frightened and confused Samantha into his care and delivered her shortly thereafter to The Raven's Grove School for Girls. What prompted Samantha to begin fighting crime as the hero Flourish is still shrouded in mystery. But since that night in the alley she has recovered most of her memories, including that she has a twin sister and that she is actually a Nightwardian, given to her foster parents by her aunt, Masha du Lioncourt, after her true mother's untimely demise. Samantha still does not know whom her real father is, why she was exiled from Nightward, or what became of her sister Nicole but she continues her relentless search determined to find the answers to these questions. Powers, Skills, and Talents Flourish's powers come from an infusion of energy and a transfusion of knowledge from the tome she found, the Grimoire of the Ageless. To everyone, including Samantha herself, the grimoire retains blank pages; information and secrets being unlocked only as Samantha discovers answers on her own. Because of the book Samantha is able to utilize a number of spell-like powers including summoning and distorting shadows, creating eldricht blasts and mystic binds, opening enchanted portals to teleport through, summon up shadow creatures to fight for her, and calling for Charon, an elemental spirit whom takes the form of a black Victorian coach being lead by a team of six ectoplasmic horses. Her membership with the core team of Heroes Unlimited has opened up vistas of knowledge to her above and beyond the occult training she has received at the School. Because of her team mates Samantha has learned Spanish and Japanese fluently, slieght of hand, can apply and utilize a number of self-defense techniques and, large because of Solitaire's patient tutoring, has become very knowledgable in all aspects of the occult and supernatural. Her education at the Raven's School for Girls has taught her to become fluent in a variety of 'mystical' languages including Hebrew, Latin, and Ancient Greek. A combination of tutoring from Solitaire and lessons from the school has made her very knowledgable in extra-planar worlds and alternate dimensions. Through her own explorations and research, Flourish has become a self-taught expert on Nightward including points of entry, Black Judges, pitfalls and dangers, and where Resistance safehouses can be found. Rogues Gallery As with most superheroes, as Flourish's reputation as a skilled crime fighter grows she has attracted her fair share of enemies. Her rogues gallery, criminals that Flourish has acted against directly, are as follows: Mousetrap: The talented super-thief Mousetrap has committed several thefts in and around Raven's Grove, which she calls 'games'. And her favorite playmate is Flourish. Sigil: Sigil and Flourish first fought to a spectacular victory by Flourish in a quiet suburban neighborhood. Since that time, Sigil has decided that in order to remove her heroic counterpart she will steal Flourish's Black Book, and often comes up with schemes and plots in order to make that happen. Spellbound: A strange entity with unknown motivations and indesipherable desires, Spellbound uses music, dance, and thyming couplets to perform magic that befuddles and beguiles her foes. She seems to, for whatever reasons, find Flourish an ideal playmate and often focuses her criminal activities specifically to get Flourish's attention. (Spellbound was created by Riven.) Category:Heroes Category:Characters